1. Field of the Disclosure
Embodiments of this disclosure relate generally to systems and methods for cooling a data center, which houses information technology equipment, such as servers, network switches, data storage and similar devices.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Data centers employing equipment enclosures or racks for housing electronic equipment, such as data processing, networking and telecommunications equipment have been used for many years. Heat produced by rack-mounted equipment can have adverse effects on the performance, reliability and useful life of the equipment components located within the data center. In particular, rack-mounted equipment, housed within an enclosure, may be vulnerable to heat build-up and hot spots produced within the confines of the enclosure during operation. The amount of heat generated by a rack of equipment is dependent on the amount of electrical power drawn by equipment in the rack during operation. In addition, users of electronic equipment may add, remove, and rearrange rack-mounted components as their needs change and new needs develop.
There are many approaches to cooling data centers. Previously, in certain configurations, data centers have been cooled by a data center's cooling system with computer room air conditioner (“CRAC”) units that are typically hard piped, immobile units positioned around the periphery of the data center room. These CRAC units intake air from the fronts of the units and output cooler air upwardly toward the ceiling of the data center room. In other embodiments, the CRAC units intake air from near the ceiling of the data center room and discharge cooler air under a raised floor for delivery to the fronts of the equipment racks. In general, such CRAC units intake room temperature air and discharge cold air, which is blown into the data center room and mixed with the room temperature air at or near the equipment racks. Mobile cooling units may also be employed.